Page 4 of Corbin (Wild Wolf Pack from the world of Gallize Shifters #2)

He’d give her twenty seconds, then he might have to drag her out of here. Adrian and Ladrón could come back to figure out this mess. He had no idea if there were more kidnappers in this ring, and every second sitting here sent dread crawling up his spine.

She blinked hard as if trying to wipe away the horror clouding her mind. Pale blue eyes stared at him with confusion. He’d once fallen hard for a girl with unusual aqua-blue eyes.

He’d never seen that color since.

A cursed color that starred in his nightmares.

Twenty seconds were up. “I’m going to cut the rope loose, okay?”

No response.

He withdrew a switchblade that had been strapped inside his pants pocket with elastic and thanked Jaz for her forethought again.

He first cut the rope end tied to the tree, hoping the idea of being free would lessen the grip terror had on her.

With no words from her yet, he slowly reached for the rope around her waist. He slipped his finger between the coarse rope and her torn shirt to give him room to cut without harming her.

She flinched, and he felt sick to his stomach.

He’d never frightened a woman. “I’m sorry.” She might believe him if he hadn’t sounded irritated. He couldn’t help it. If any more shifters showed up, he could not hand Ares the body again yet.

Tears ran down her face. “No, I’m sorry. I’m, uh ...”

Relieved at her talking, he supplied, “Shook up? That’s understandable.

You’ve been through an awful time here, but I’m getting you out of this place.

What’s your name?” He knew her name but wanted to keep her distracted with easy-going dialogue.

He finished slicing through the rope and pulled it away from around her waist.

She whispered, “Judith.”

“I’m Corbin. Nice to meet you.”

Ares casually said, Bear waking. You want to fight this one?

What? Corbin swung around to find the first bear shifter still lying on the ground with claws poking out of his meaty hands covered in black fur from where he’d stopped in mid-shift. His distorted mouth moved, and he clenched his jaws.

Ares snickered.

No. Don’t wake up , Corbin silently begged the universe. He stood and reached for the woman’s hands. “Let’s go.”

She clamped his hands, and he pulled her to her feet. She took a step, limped, and whimpered. “My ankle is hurt.”

Corbin still needed forty-five minutes to heal enough to battle. At least she didn’t require clothes. He had no time to spare. “I’ll carry you.” He tossed her onto his left shoulder in a fireman’s hold and said, “Stay quiet.”

Hurrying as much as possible with pain stabbing him, he swung around and headed back the way Ares had come in. He’d like to have his gun, but he’d left it and his comm unit where he’d shifted. With every second counting, he had no time to search the area.

Even if he did, the damn tranqs had barely affected that bear.

The slumbering shifter let out a loud snarl and shook his head, clearly waking up.

Judith screeched a terrified squeal. His muscles clenched against the shrill sound.

An understandable reaction, but not helpful right now. Corbin took a quick glance to see how fast the shifter was coming around. Dark eyes in the shifter’s distorted head filled with the promise of a bloody death. He ground out a sluggish roar but with energy building.

She passed out. Finally, a gift from the universe.

Corbin could feel warm liquid seeping down the side of his chest from his worst gash. Should he spend time hunting for the gun? Would the tranq slow down a disoriented shifter? Not worth the gamble.

Where were Ladrón and Adrian? Had Ladrón been in more trouble than a snagged rope? Corbin would call them if he had his comm unit, but that was with the backpack.

Corbin asked Ares, Can you do anything to heal our wound quicker?

I can heal any wound when I have the body.

You do realize that bear shifter will catch up with me soon, right? Corbin bit out at the annoying wolf.

Because you are not as fast as me.

Corbin fought his way through thick brush and low branches. He tried to reason with Ares again. I’m asking for help healing so we can survive.

Maybe I am ready to die.

Of all the things Ares could have said, that was the most ridiculous. His wolf faced any threat with only one plan. To kill and survive.

Heaving hard breaths, Corbin climbed over a fallen tree he’d usually jump, but not with Judith hanging across his battered body. Ares had stomped on his last good nerve. If you want to die, let me know the next time I see a river, and we’ll make it happen.

A nasty snarl ripped from Ares. You are dick.

Tell me something new. If you aren’t going to help me, why should I keep protecting you from water?

Or did you forget about me being lashed eight times in human form with a leather whip because I refused to get on a boat for the Romanian one time?

Corbin’s head throbbed, and his vision swam.

He had to find a place to hide Judith and backtrack to the bear shifter to pull him off course.

Fighting pain, he shook off the dizziness clouding his mind. He believed he headed back in the direction he’d initially traveled to reach the kidnappers. With Adrian and Ladrón tracking his scent, he had to run into them at some point, right?

With their shifter hearing, they should have heard her scream. That meant they weren’t on the ground yet.

A much stronger roar bellowed behind them. Not far enough back.

Energy began to flow through Corbin’s body. He wanted to scream at Ares for making him wait, but instead said, Thank you. I’ll let you know the minute I think we can safely shift.

They both knew it would not happen before the bear caught up to Corbin. He had to use the push of energy to run instead of healing his wounds. He gripped her legs and took off running hard, which forced him to use the path of least resistance.

Unfortunately, that shoved him off course.

Wolves were fast, but natural bears could run thirty-five miles an hour over an open field. Even a bear shifter in animal form would be much faster than Corbin carrying a woman.

Running hard to stay as far ahead as he could, Corbin jarred his ribs and cursed in pain.

He jumped up on the two-foot-thick trunk of a downed tree, grunted at the effort, then raced across it to avoid slugging through dense underbrush.

When he dismounted, he wove back to his right, angling toward the trail he believed Adrian and Ladrón would be taking. Energy drained away with every step.

Another loud roar blasted behind him.

Hairs on Corbin’s arms stood up. That brute was closing in on him.

He caught sight of a twisted tree he recalled from earlier. His hopes lifted. If his calculation was correct, he had to move another twenty yards to his right to get back on his original path.

He ran a list of possibilities through his mind for how he could put this woman somewhere safe, but he knew nothing about this area. If he were back in Canada, where he’d escaped from Vlad, the Romanian, he could find six or seven safe hideouts on a moment’s notice.

If he were still in Canada, he’d also very likely be dead by now.

The trees thinned until he saw an open area he recognized. Hallelujah. He had to be around a hundred or so yards from the tree he had climbed down at the end of rappelling. Worst case, he’d rig her up with his climbing gear and pull her far enough off the ground to—

The vicious roar of a feral monster shook the woods at the same minute a massive black body crashed through the trees fifty yards behind Corbin.

Judith dug her nails into his back, lifted up from where she’d been bouncing against his back, and screamed.

Time had run out.

Corbin had no way to save this woman. How could he fail her when he had been the only one to reach that shack?

Judith’s heartbreaking cry and squirming around frantically threw him off balance. He locked his left arm tighter around her legs. “Hey. Calm down!”

“The bear ... I hear him ... He’s ...” She couldn’t talk past hyperventilating.

He sure as hell had no paper bag. “Shhh. Listen to me. I’ve got a plan.”

Her loud breathing turned into panicked panting. “Really? What is it?”

Corbin hadn’t actually lied. He had no time to think anything through and had to make up the details as he ran. “I’m taking you somewhere he can’t reach you.” That was his only plan as he ran all out to stay ahead of that monster. “Try to stay calm to help me so I can outrun him.”

Not a word followed. She drooped her body again like a noodle but clutched his sides. He bit down against a curse when her fingers dug into the still-bleeding side.

He used the sharp ache to stay focused on winning this foot race.

No roaring now, only the loud crashing of a massive bear tearing through the woods. The minute that bear reached the open space Corbin had passed through, he would close the distance between them even faster.

Ares asked, Got a real plan?

That’s the only one I have , Corbin admitted, hating that he might end up letting his wolf down when they couldn’t shift again in time for Ares to fight the bear. They had a difficult relationship, but he would never set them up to lose a battle.

Look behind , Ares warned.

Watching his steps, Corbin wrenched his neck to look back quickly. Ah hell!

That bear covered ground like a Kentucky Derby champion.

Panic crept into Corbin’s mind. He tried to shake it off and think strategically, but he could not ignore the heavy pounding. He zigzagged into a cluster of trees.

Nothing slowed that monster that plowed a path straight for them.

Ares shouted, Watch out!

Corbin looked up and saw the end coming at them fast. He caught a tree with his free arm, spun around in a circle, and stumbled to keep upright.

The bear broke free from the cluster of trees, not stopping. There would be no slowing down to stand and fight. That predator would be on Corbin instantly and rip him to pieces.

Ares shouted, What are you doing?

Corbin couldn’t answer, only act.